Man's 40 years of campaigning after son's meningitis death

A father who has dedicated his life to raising meningitis awareness after the death of his son 40 years ago wants wider vaccination against the disease.

Steve Dayman, from Bristol, saw his son Spencer die in 1982 when he was 14 months old.

His support group grew into the charity Meningitis Now, lobbying for meningitis vaccines on the NHS.

Its new campaign, Spencer's Legacy: Nobody Left Behind, aims to raise £300,000 to fund more research.

Mr Dayman, 74, has already raised more than £2m and is determined to keep raising money to help develop a universal meningitis vaccine.

"The vaccines we have at the moment don't cover all strains, even the Men B vaccine, it protects against about 80% of group B," he said.

"We need to improve the vaccines we have but, ultimately, if we could have a single vaccine for all strains of bacterial meningitis, that would make it more cost-effective."

Spencer's symptoms started after his normal midday nap on 2 November that year.

Recalling the events that day, Mr Dayman said: "Normally when he woke up he'd be jumping up and down in his cot, shaking the bars as if to say 'get me out of here'.

"But he couldn't raise himself off the pillow. We called the doctor and they said, 'well give him some Calpol and see how he goes', so we did that."

By 17:00 BST that evening, a doctor visited him and advised going to the hospital as a precaution.

"We got to the hospital about six o'clock. Within 24 hours, Spencer was completely overwhelmed by meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, and he died from the disease," he added.

Mr Dayman's wife Gloria was by his side as they witnessed Spencer die.

"I held Spencer - the devastation and void is something I'll never forget. His death completely changed my life," Mr Dayman said.

"In those days there weren't any organisations, no leaflets, nothing about the disease."

The couple started fundraising locally with family and friends then started to connect with other families as meningitis cases rose in other parts of the UK.

It was regarded as the start of the UK's meningitis movement and Mr Dayman was made an MBE in 2010.

The Spencer's Legacy campaign will appeal to individuals and families, as well as companies, corporate sponsors and grant-making organisations and provide a postgraduate student placement at the Spencer Dayman Research Laboratories at the University of Bristol.

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